Game of the World Tree

The Black Dragon Castle isn’t very large.

In fact, even after players renovated it, the entire castle still covers less than 40,000 square meters, and the entire length of the perimeter wall is only about 900 meters.

As a result, the six thousand players defending the castle walls found themselves tightly packed along the walls, leaving them entirely vulnerable to the Orcs’ spear and arrow attacks.

After recognizing this issue, the Legion Commanders swiftly altered their strategy.

Following the orders of Li Mu and Transformer Ji Gang, the players quickly evacuated the wounded, filled the gaps left by those who had unfortunately perished, and adopting a rotation system for both rest and taking their positions on the wall to defend the castle in shifts.

As the battle began, it became abundantly clear that the players lacked experience in siege warfare. Their ranks, while filled with high-morale, were tinged with disarray, providing an opportunity for Orc spear throwers and archers to subdue them.

The orc army, on the other hand, continues to advance despite the rain of arrows from the players.

In contrast, the enemy side persists in moving forward, undeterred by the barrage of arrows from the players.

At the same time, the foremost portion of the advancing 10,000 orc army was steadily closing in on the castle walls.

Nonetheless, King Imsh, the orc army’s commander, appeared visibly displeased.

The reason being… the overwhelming presence of elves.

He clearly saw the first volley of arrows, numbering in the thousands.

This clearly indicated that there were at least a thousand elven archers defending the walls, or possibly even more, given that not all defenders had to be archers per se. Hence, there appeared to be a greater number of elves protecting the castle than he had originally anticipated.

Furthermore, the orcs were not besieging the castle from all sides.

Currently they were only attacking from the south, and haven’t yet fully encircled the castle. This meant that there might be a similar number of elven defenders on the opposite side of the castle.

In his rough estimates, King Imsh realized that there were probably at least 3,000 elves defending the castle.

But that was not the worst part of it all.

Each Behemoth was a formidable living siege weapon.

Normally, their enormous spears were capable enough to tear down such walls into pieces. Yet, what made Imsh even more concerned was that he noticed the entire wall appeared to have been reinforced with some kind of defensive magic.

This diminished his confidence in quickly conquering the castle.

“Could it be that all the elves are stationed inside the castle?”

With the elves’ strength, it was probable that the Orc army would still incur substantial losses, even if they managed to swiftly seize Black Dragon Castle.

However, his army was already charging forward, and could no longer retreat.

With this in mind, King Imsh raised his sword high and roared,

“Attack! Push Forward!”

Not a second later, another deep sounding horn echoed through the entire battlefield.

The four leading Behemoth heard the horn and let out a furious roar. They pounded their chests, while quickening their pace towards the walls. These giant beasts were nearly ten meters tall and almost as high as the castle walls.

After reaching the castle wall, they then unstrapped the ladders from their backs and leaned them against the walls. At the same time, they also brandished their enormous spears, before swiftly clearing away the defending players stationed on the walls.

The Behemoth’s thick spears transformed into lethal weapons, and each player struck by them was sent hurtling through the air, coughing up blood before losing consciousness.

Many were swept off the walls and fell into the advancing Orcarmy down below.

Some tried attacking these beasts however, yet their attacks had no impact on the Behemoth, as if they were merely tickling them.

Every Behemoth possessed the strength equivalent to that of a low-level Silver-rank monster. Although incapable of using magic, their physical prowess and incredibly robust bodies rendered them nearly impervious to pain.

Arrows from players couldn’t penetrate their layers of fat, and even the spells cast by mages left only scorched marks upon their bodies.

Melee players fared even worse.

They mustered up their courage, and with the brilliance of their skills shining upon their weapons, many melee players tried to stab the colossal monsters but their attacks barely fazed the beasts.

The Behemoths remained seemingly unperturbed, dismissing the onslaught of attacks with ease. They effortlessly seized the charging players as if they were helpless chicks, and with strangled them to death in their hands…

Screams filled the air, as blood splattered all around.

Even though the gruesome, bloody scene can be censored in some way through the game’s settings, the sheer brutality of it all still terrified the players.

“Oh my God!”

“Fuck!”

“Unbelievable!”

All the players stared in utmost shock at these seemingly invincible giants of mass destruction.

However, some of them were also quick to react.

Additional arrows were loosed at the Behemoth, and a stray arrow narrowly missed one of the creature’s eyes. In response, the Behemoth swiftly lifted its arms to shield its head, skillfully deflecting the following arrows.

Demacia, who was also present at that moment, saw this and quickly shouted, “Their eyes! Shoot their eyes! Looks like they’re instinctively protecting their eyes!”

Hearing Demacia’s advice, the archer players immediately changed their tactics and they all focused their next shots on the Behemoth’s eyes.

This shift in strategy made the giants somewhat disoriented.

While these beasts do have incredible defenses, they still have one vulnerable weakness which is their eyes.

Another barrage of arrows soared, but this time, every player was now aiming squarely for the Behemoth’s particularly large eyes.

In an instant, the four giants panicked and tried to evade the arrows. Their previously fierce offensive was now actually being impeded by the players…

Even so, the Behemoths still managed to buy some time for the Orcs below.

Some Orc vanguards finally came to the city wall despite the rain of arrows.

They used the ladders propped up by the Behemoth to finally climb onto the walls of Black Dragon Castle!

Hence, the long-ranged battle finally shifted into close combat battle…

With resounding roars, the Orc warriors vaulted onto the walls, casting aside their shields to wield swords and maces, before charging at the elven defenders protecting the wall.

Seeing the Orcs closing in on their position, the ranged players began to panic.

“Don’t panic! CQC players, move in and block these guys! Ranged players, keep attacking! Don’t worry about friendly fire! As long as we don’t kill our own, we can heal them! Druids and mages, focus your buffs on our main tanks and CQC DPS dealers!” ¹

Li Mu shouted hoarsely.

Just as Li Mu finished shouting, a new system message appeared on all the defending players’ line of vision…

【❗】

【Unyielding, fearless heroes! Your bravery has moved the great goddess, and she has decided to bestow her blessing upon you!】

【You have received a buff: Blessing of the Goddess】

【Your weapon gains a buff: Blessing of the Goddess】

【Effect: Until the next day, you will be free from negative emotions. Your attack and defense will increase and all skill damage will have a 100% chance of inflicting ‘bleeding’ effect!】

【For the honor of the goddess and the elven race, fight valiantly, Chosen Ones!】

These message flashed, as a faint, ethereal glow appeared on all the players’ bodies.

It was the power of the goddess, once again granting a beneficial buff to the players.

Simultaneously, the game’s background music suddenly shifted from its triumphant tone to a more majestic and ethereal melody, with a haunting female voice accompanying the battle music.

This sudden change left all the players with an exhilarating sensation, as though they had evolved from mere warriors into heroic saviors of the world.

Infused with the empowering buff and a growing, volcano-like surge of inner strength, coupled with the stirring background music, a deluge of inexplicable excitement coarse through all the defending players.

“Haha! The goddess’s buff is here again!”

“Perfect timing! We’ve been strengthened once more!”

“I knew it! With such powerful enemies, how could the goddess not bestow her blessings upon us? Long live the goddess!”

“Charge! Drive these Orcs off the walls!”

“Kill them!”

“Uraaaah!”

With the buff in effect, the players’ morale soared further, and they charged with renewed vigor. Melee players let out battle cries, as their eyes ablaze with unwavering resolve, as they hoisted their weapons and advanced upon the Orcs with maniacal intensity.

Ranged players also raised their bows and continued their attacks on the Orcs.

Observing the elves’ frenzied charge, the Orcs responded with roars of their own, surging forward with the same intense ferocity seemingly influenced by the renewed determination of their adversaries.

Thus, the two sides clashed in a chaotic battle.

The sounds of clashing weapons, cries of pain, the sound of blades piercing flesh, and the explosions of magic all blended together into a grim morbid symphony.

The pungent smell of blood and burning flesh entirely filled the air, making many players nauseous. Some even had to disable their sense of smell just to tolerate it.

Bursts of explosive magic and healing spells radiated in all directions, crafting a dazzling spectacle.

The Orcs roared and bellowed, their breath heavy as they charged under the hail of arrows and magic, locking in combat with the equally ferocious elves.

Brutal skirmishes erupted in the vicinity of the ladders propped against the castle wall.

Although the Orcs had managed to climbed up the walls, their assaults didn’t unfold as smoothly as anticipated, given that the elves proved to be far more stronger and resilient than they had initially thought.

Especially Tanks defending Black Dragon Castle.

These players included nearly all the tank warriors from the entire server.

They had thick armors and strong defenses, with all their skills concentrated on defense and aggro. They were renowned as the most craziest and fearless players, always leading the charge at the forefront like battle-crazed lunatics.

And now, with the blessing of the goddess and the morale-boosting music, these group of lunatics faced the attack of the orcs, as if they had been given a strong doze of chicken blood ² and became even crazier.

Within every combat-loving player, there burned a fiery spirit, and the ongoing brutal and blood-soaked melee battles stoked that very flame.

Empowered by the goddess, the players ignited with fervor. They battled as if their very lives hinged upon it, encircling and overwhelming any Orcs who managed to climbed up the walls.

For a moment, the orcs who charged ahead were taken by surprise and endured successive setbacks, leading to significant losses.

Nevertheless, as the Orcs on the frontlines fell one after another, those following behind promptly filled their spots, making the entire battlefield devolved into a chaotic stalemate, akin to a grisly tug-of-war.

From the looks of it, this deadlock seemed poised to continue for an extended period. However, suddenly at that moment, accompanied by a resounding roar, a massive black figure soared out from the castle…

With a body over thirty meters long, even larger than the Behemoths, it radiated a terrifying draconic aura all across the battlefield.

Finally, the Black Dragon Meryer, had joined the fray.

Whilst carrying Little Salty Cat upon his back, Meryer extended his wings as the two took to the skies.

Then, with an excited puff of his cheeks, the black dragon expelled a thick, concentrated stream of dragon breath towards the Behemoths standing at the walls.

“Ruaahhh!!”

¹ CQC – Close Quarter Combat

DPS – Damage per Second (Gaming term for damage dealers)

² 鸡血 – Chicken Blood Therapy is an unproven Chinese-medicine treatment dating back to the 1950s in which a person is injected with fresh chicken blood to stimulate energy and cure all sorts of ailments.

— —